. . . Repin and Nikolai Lugansky demonstrate in this trio of sonatas not only their love for the music but also their stylistic and emotional insight, their broad spectrum of colour and the way that they work so closely and instinctively together . . . Repin's and Lugansky's subtlety of expression is a major factor in making this so outstanding, so ravishing and so spine-tingling. Both musicians give of their utmost and, when the musicians in question are Repin and Lugansky, that makes for something exceptional.

This is one of the finest performances I have ever heard of the Janáček, played with breathtaking conviction and an utterly persuasive grasp of Janáček's idiom . . . Their new disc is worth getting for this performance of the Janáček alone, but the rest is every bit as impressive.

Record Review /
International Record Review (London) / 01. December 2010

From the first notes of Janácek's Violin Sonata it's clear that this is going to be a recital of exceptional quality. The searing intensity with which Vadim Repin launches into the angular opening phrase is a thrilling sign of things to come. The whole performance is passionately projected by both Repin and Nikolai Lugansky and there's also a superb grasp of Janáček's rugged lyricism: the propulsive cells that make up much of the work's musical argument are driven along with rhythmic energy that is combined with a magnificent sense of musical line . . . without ever resorting to exaggeration, Repin and Lugansky produce playing that is gripping and extremely expressive . . . it is hard to imagine a more convincing account [of the Grieg Sonata] than the one given here by Repin and Lugansky. While the fiery intensity of their playing in the more animated music is remarkable, so too is their ability to project the calmer, unforced singing lines' quiet fervour. These same qualities are heard to memorable effect in the Franck Sonata . . . this is an outstanding release.

Record Review /
Nigel Simeone,
International Record Review (London) / 01. December 2010

The obvious empathy that exists between these two artists, coupled with the invaluable experience garnered from playing together over many years, brings enormous dividends to this warmly recorded programme . . . Repin and Lugansky overcome any hint of routine, delivering a relatively straightforward account that is sparing in its use of rubato and avoids any excessive indulgence. I particularly admire the purity with which they approach the first movement and the almost childlike simplicity found in the phrasing of the opening melody of the Allegretto poco mosso, here delivered at an almost ideal tempo. These qualities prepare one far more effectively for the searing intensity that is to follow both in the passionate second movement and in the climaxes of the Finale . . . Repin and Lugansky deliver an almost expressionist account of the Janácek exploiting every nervous tick in the music to thenth degree but without ever sacrificing precision and unanimity of ensemble . . . [Grieg]: Repin and Lugansky bring freshness to the outer movements whilst investing the central movement with great affection. Superb.

[A] well-honed disc . . . [Janácek]: Repin and Lugansky address the work with ardor and affection resonates from the first bars . . . [Grieg]: exquisite colors from pianist Lugansky . . . [The outpouring of melody] accosts us with such lush vitality -- and in brilliant sound courtesy of engineer Martin Litauer -- that we must succumb to the passion of the moment . . . The level of technical and emotional commitment for these expressive works has never been in doubt.

Record Review /
Gary Lemco,
Audiophile Audition / 15. February 2011

Repin and Lugansky make a formidable duo, finely matched in tone and both true virtuosos . . . it's impossible not to respond to this vital, wholehearted playing.

VADIM REPIN AND NIKOLAI LUGANSKY WITH ROMANTIC VIOLIN SONATAS

Vadim Repin and his pianist partner Nikolai Lugansky (“I love everything about Vadim’s playing”) have just recorded a compilation of three magnificent but utterly different Romantic violin sonatas.

The overtly emotional Franck sonata is the new album’s centrepiece, and also the work that the two artists have played together most often. By contrast, says Vadim Repin, the “Janáček is the most intimate and emotional music you could imagine. Then the Grieg is another substance again. It’s somehow like 19th-century Mozart – very truthful, natural writing. His emotions are really direct reflections.” And about the recording as a whole, Repin exclaims: ”This is a documentary of two people who perform together and love this music.”

“Fiery commitment and technical aplomb,” declared the New York Times reviewing Repin/Lugansky live, while the Los Angeles Times dubbed them “the high-powered Repin-Lugansky team” and, after a recital including the Franck, the Boston Globe reported that “they left their audience cheering after every piece . . . Each seems more interested in exploring the personalities of the composers than in making a parade of his own.”

This is chamber music-making on the highest level. Vadim Repin will, of course, continue to perform these three sonatas live, whenever possible with Nikolai Lugansky: “I feel a great connection to his sense of phrasing. It is something I can always be confident to be part of, to follow or to take the idea further. We trust each other.” The two artists’ exceptional chemistry and mutual understanding are clearly audible in this remarkable new recording.

Insights

“In Love with the Music”

Vadim Repin and Nikolai Lugansky Play Romantic Sonatas

Berlin has turned on its most sweltering weather for Vadim Repin and Nikolai Lugansky’s first studio recording together. In the Teldex Studio’s spacious rooms, the two sweat with ferocious intensity through the music of César Franck, Edvard Grieg and Leoš Janáček. Both men are fathers, both compare the experience to the birth of a child. “It’s painful,” says Repin. “Very painful,” agrees Lugansky. But worth doing? “Of course! Like childbirth, it’s worth the pain,” Repin says. “Recording is a very tough thing. It’s great when the CD is finished, but the sessions are very hard work because you have to be at your best for every take, and at the end of the day you feel completely wrung out by emotional exhaustion. In a concert you have something you can never have in a studio: a live public. But in a recording you have something you can never have in a concert: a choice.”

Nothing, he says, is irrelevant in the process. Not even the weather. “This heat is another emotion. Helplessness, and how you deal with it. In the end it becomes one of the colours we can try to express through our playing. Whatever happens in your life adds an extra colour.” Colour is one thing that Repin and Lugansky mention frequently in conversation. The two musicians – regular recital partners for several years now – have an evident ease with one another: the pianist’s controlled reflectiveness is the perfect foil for Repin’s restless energy. It was because Grieg’s Second Sonata represented a different colour that they chose this work above his more popular Third Sonata to sit between the sweeping range of Franck and the burning intensity of Janáček, explains Repin. “The Franck Sonata is the centrepiece, and also the work we’ve played together the most often. Janáček is completely different, the most intimate and emotional music you could imagine. Then the Grieg is another substance again. It’s somehow like 19th-century Mozart – very truthful, natural writing. His emotions are really direct reflections. I think it would be hard to find three sonatas from the Romantic period which are more completely different from one another.”

Lugansky likes Repin’s comparison of Grieg to Mozart. “It’s unbelievably fresh, naïve and very wise at the same time,” he says. “This is sunny, simple, open music which still has a deep side. If Grieg is looking at the world outside, Janáček is looking inside. To be extremely happy or extremely unhappy is something that music can express in a way that literature cannot. This intimate, sensitive world which can be so easily destroyed – in my opinion, that’s what Janáček is expressing. Franck has both. He has a very intense, intimate inner world, but he can also look beyond that to see the whole picture. Normally a Romantic composer would only be able to see his own world. But Franck, perhaps because of his religious beliefs, knew that it was just a part of the entire miracle of creation. He sees his own feelings, but also the sunrise and the sunset. His music reflects the whole cosmos.”

The careful choice of three such contrasting sonatas was an expression of their desire to create a recording which was like a recital programme, explain Lugansky and Repin. “These are pieces that we adore playing. I would not play at all if I were not really in love with the works I am performing,” says Lugansky. In the concentration of the hot studio hours it is evident, not just that both men love the music they are playing, but also that they love playing it together. “I love everything about Vadim’s playing,” Lugansky confirms. “I like his fantastic sound and his musical phrasing. And we both know that if one of us changes something in a performance, the other will also somehow change in this direction. We don’t have to decide who has the leading phrase. It happens by itself.”

That, adds Repin, is one of the reasons why he wanted to record a disc of chamber music again. “It’s a very organic process. Very little is planned, and what happens is incredibly alive. When you play together, you have to trust each other. Musical taste is something that is very important to me – to find the line between overstatement and understatement, to have a clear understanding of the musical architecture of a piece. Technique is not something I even have to speak about with Nikolai. It doesn’t get any better. I feel a great connection to his sense of phrasing. It’s something I can always be confident to be a part of, to follow or to take the idea further. We trust each other.”

The satisfaction in recording this repertoire, the two musicians agree, is that of setting some­thing in the world which will go on to have its own life. “Now it’s a story about a recording and the people who listen to it, not about us,” says Repin. “I always hope for the listener with a really open heart,” adds Lugansky. “There are hundreds of recordings of everything. You don’t make a recording just to be different. This is a documentary of two people who perform together and love this music. It’s the only kind of document we can leave. Composers give us their scores and their thoughts. For musicians, this is the way to leave a footprint.”